Quilter's "Roll'n'go" Tutorial

I made this cute little roll up carrier for my applique work so I can take it with me when I go to classes and such.  It could work for any kind of handwork, of course.

Here's how I made it:

Materials used:
5/8 yard cover fabric
5/8 yard fusible fleece
1/3 yard binding fabric (to make 110" of bias binding)
2/3 yard narrow twill binding, ribbon or other type of tie.

1 2" x 18" mailing tube with removable end caps
small bottle tacky glue

Cutting:
From the cover fabric, I cut a rectangle 21" x 39"
From the fusible fleece, I cut a rectangle 21" x 39"
From the binding fabric, make 110" of 2 1/4" bias binding using your favorite method.
    (I actually made mine 2" wide, but it was a little too narrow, so next time I'd do 2 1/4")

Construction:

1. Fuse fleece rectangle to cover fabric rectangle using directions on the fusible fleece.  Trim fused rectangle to 19" x 37".  Using an old CD or DVD as a template, round two corners on one end of the prepared rectangle.

2.  Prepare binding and sew it to the BACK (fleece side) of 3 sides of the rectangle, starting at one right angle corner, sew the binding along the edge, around curved corners and back to the opposite right angle corner.  Bring the binding around to the front (fabric side) and machine stitch down to the front.

Gluing:

3. Glue one end cap of the mailing tube in place.  Mark this end with a permanent marker so you know it is the glued end.

4. Cover the whole cardboard mailing tube with glue (not the end caps, just the cardboard part).  Place the tube on the binding-free end of the rectangle with the fleece side up.  Make sure that you align the tube with the straight edge.  Then press the tube to the fabric as you roll the tube over the fleece.  When you have covered the entire tube with rolled fleece/fabric, continue to roll the tube so it overlaps the raw edge by 1 1/2".  Glue the fleece to the overlapped cover fabric and allow it to dry completely.

5.  Using a curved upholstery needle, hand stitch the fleece side to the cover fabric along the overlapped edge to secure it.

6.  Place your ties on the outer edge of the rectangle, in the center, one facing outward, one inward, and attach them with tight zigzag stitching to secure them.

The mailing tube itself, since one end opens, can be used to store your tools for handwork.

You are ready to Roll 'n Go.

I modified this pattern from one originally published by Moda.  The concept is the same, but some of the dimensions and instructions are different (and easier in my opinion).

The whole thing took me maybe 2 hours to make (plus glue drying time)... the most time consuming part of the whole thing was the hand stitching with the curved upholstery needle, but still a necessary step.  Enjoy!